These Popular Peanut Butter Products Have All Been Recalled, FDA Warns

ONE MAJOR PEANUT BUTTER RECALL HAS LED TO NINE OTHER ALERTS THIS WEEK.

When is a product recall more than a product recall? When it applies to one of the most popular and widely distributed grocery items in the country. Earlier this week, a peanut butter recall due to a potentially deadly contaminant grabbed the attention of consumers across the U.S. But the story was far from over: Since then, brands who use the affected peanut butter in their products have unfurled a cascade of related product recalls, affecting grocery stores and popular purchases around the country. Read on to find out what has been recalled so far.

READ THIS NEXT: If You Have This Bacon in Your Fridge, Don't Eat It, USDA Warns.

Jif peanut butter products were the first to be recalled.
Shutterstock/Marie C Fields

On May 20, the J. M. Smucker Co. announced it was recalling select Jif peanut butter products sold in the U.S. The recalled peanut butter was distributed nationwide in retail stores and other outlets. The recalled products include a wide array of Jif crunchy, creamy, and natural peanut butter in various sizes and package types, all named in the recall announcement shared on May 20 on the website for the Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

Per the FDA release, the peanut butter was pulled for potential Salmonella contamination. Salmonella is a bacteria that can cause food poisoning, with symptoms that include diarrhea (sometimes bloody), nausea, and vomiting. But as the FDA notes, in rare but serious cases, "infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis."

The potentially tainted peanut butter has led to a flood of other recalls this week.
Shutterstock

After the initial Jif recall posted, an array of additional product recalls followed suit, as these products also contain some of the potentially tainted peanut butter.

It began on May 21, with Wawa announcing a recall on two products containing Jif, per the FDA website. Then on May 23, Cargill released a recall notice on select lots of milk and dark chocolate covered peanut butter Ritz crackers, peanut butter meltaways, peanut butter eggs, and fudge sold locally through the Wilbur Chocolate retail store in Pennsylvania, as well as online at Wilburbuds.com. This recall affected fewer than 800 units. But the scale soon ballooned.

RELATED: For more up-to-date information, sign up for our daily newsletter.

Major grocery stores have been forced to pull products from shelves.
David Tonelson / Shutterstock

On May 24, a list of additional recalls filled the FDA's site. Albertsons Companies voluntarily recalled 11 store-prepared items available at stores including Albertsons, Safeway, Lucky, Haggen, Carrs-Safeway, Eagle, Tom Thumb, United, Amigos, Market Street, Albertsons Market, Andronico's Community Markets, Vons, Pak 'N Save, Shaw's, Star Market, Randalls, Vons, Jewel-Osco, ACME, King's, and Balducci's. The items are a long list of products that include the tainted peanut butter as an ingredient.

Retailers around the country are recalling everything from deli snacks to desserts.
Shutterstock

Mary's Harvest Fresh Foods Inc, of Portland, Oregon is voluntarily recalling its celery peanut butter cups and apple peanut butter cups containing Jif peanut butter. The recalled products were distributed in Oregon and Washington to retailers and supermarkets. Indianapolis-based Garden Cut is also recalling similar fruit-and-peanut-butter-containing products distributed to seven states: Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Coblentz Chocolate Company of Walnut Creek, Ohio is recalling desserts and packaged snacks including its milk chocolate peanut butter cup, Ritz peanut butter sandwich, chocolate peanut butter caramel corn, and an array of other products listed in its recall alert.

Taher Inc. of Plymouth, Minnesota, is recalling Fresh Seasons Power Packs snack packages that were distributed in Minnesota and Western Wisconsin in retail stores and vending machines. And Country Fresh is voluntarily recalling similar fresh-cut fruit snack trays and fruit snack cups containing Jif peanut butter.

The most recent recall comes from Fresh Del Monte, according to a May 25 release posted on the FDA website. The company is pulling several snack packs with the recalled peanut butter.

That's nine total brand recalls representing dozens of products, over just a few days. But given the popularity and widespread distribution of the potentially contaminated Jif peanut butters, there may indeed be more related recalls to come.

READ THIS NEXT: If You Have Any of These Popular Chocolates, Do Not Eat Them, FDA Warns.